Phoenix rebounding as winter-visitor mecca

This season's influx of snowbirds delivered the best numbers in years for the Valley's winter-visitor industry.

The snowbird season started to rebound last year, and the trend has continued as more winter visitors arrived earlier and stayed longer, according to owners of recreational-vehicle and mobile-home parks.

They attribute the uptick in part to retirees feeling more comfortable about the economy and Canadians taking advantage of the currency-exchange rate that turns their $20 into nearly 21 American dollars.

Morris Farnsworth, executive director of the Arizona Association of RV Parks and Campgrounds, said an informal survey of members statewide indicated that numbers were up all over.

"Some parks were turning people away at different times," Farnsworth said. "I have friends who come every year and stay at the same East Valley park. This year, they had to move around to two or three different parks to stay for the winter."

Kim Marchbank, marketing director of Cal-Am Properties, said the Costa Mesa, Calif.-based company nearly filled its nine RV resorts in Mesa and Surprise, the two biggest snowbird meccas in the Valley.

"It's cheaper for a Minnesota resident to stay here for a month than what it costs to heat their home for the winter," Marchbank said.

With more than 44,000 recreational-vehicle spaces, Mesa has one of the state's highest concentrations of snowbird-vacation sites, many of them with attractions such as golf, swimming, tennis, shuffleboard and big-name entertainers like Wayne Newton and Shirley Jones, both of whom played at Towerpoint Resort, a Mesa RV community, this year. With 1,100 spaces, Towerpoint hit 98 percent of its capacity this year, General Manager Joe McGrath said.

"We were just strong, and the thing that drives all of these communities is a sense of community," he said. "If they have a good time, they tell their friends and want them to come."

McGrath said much of the influx has come from Canada, and although Arizona has traditionally been a draw for people from western Canada, he is seeing residents from as far away as Ontario and Nova Scotia.

Wendell Johnson, general manager of Palm Creek Golf and RV Resort in Casa Grande, said that his numbers have been up as well and that he, too, has noticed an influx of Canadians.

"We have 1,862 spaces and were fully occupied for five or six weeks," he said. "We had a great year."

Johnson estimated that Canadians made up 35 percent of his visitors this year.

"We've noticed that more of them are coming from eastern Canada rather than going to Florida, where they traditionally went," he said.

And some of those Canadians are buying winter homes in Arizona, according to at least one Valley homebuilder.

"We've seen a lot of activity," builder Jeff Blandford said. "We've had a big influx of Canadians in the last two years, but this year, they came earlier and are going home later. Some of them come back to enjoy Phoenix or to buy a house. It's a very nice thing that's happened to our industry."

Housing economist and analyst R.L. Brown said Canadians are indeed having more of an impact.

"Canadians bring other Canadians to this market," Brown said. "It's a great word-of-mouth thing. The buzz gets in the Canadian press and among Canadians who see each other as winter visitors."

Two of those Canadians are Andrene and Harry Wilson of Edmonton, Alberta.

The Wilsons recently purchased a three-bedroom home in Mountain Bridge, a master-planned community in east Mesa.

"We bought nearly $15,000 in new furniture for it," said Harry, 65, who sold drilling equipment for the oil industry before retiring. "We love it here, especially when there is 4feet of snow in Edmonton or it's 20-below.

Murray Feist (left) and John Bernritter celebrate a point during a game of water volleyball on Monday at the Towerpoint RV resort in Mesa. Winter visitors are arriving earlier and staying longer, some RV parks say.